{"id":2457073,"date":"2020-04-11T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T03:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/steamboat-springs-rafters-return-to-a-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak\/"},"modified":"2020-04-11T21:52:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T03:52:00","slug":"steamboat-rafters-return-to-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/steamboat-rafters-return-to-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat rafters return to different world after 3-week raft trip during outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7722152690864\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-324234-457\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled gallery-container\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Michelle Johnson\/Courtesy | Steamboat resident Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend Michelle Johnson. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the the rapid spread of COVID-19.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Steamboat resident Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend Michelle Johnson. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the the rapid spread of COVID-19.<\/strong><br \/>Michelle Johnson\/Courtesy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1.jpg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Steamboat resident Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend Michelle Johnson. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the the rapid spread of COVID-19.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Patrick Keogh\/courtesy | Steamboat Springs resident Patrick Keogh and his girlfriend Michelle Johnson recently returned from an 18-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The world they returned to was not the same one they had left nearly three weeks earlier.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Steamboat Springs resident Patrick Keogh and his girlfriend Michelle Johnson recently returned from an 18-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The world they returned to was not the same one they had left nearly three weeks earlier.<\/strong><br \/>Patrick Keogh\/courtesy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-1.jpg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-1.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Steamboat Springs resident Patrick Keogh and his girlfriend Michelle Johnson recently returned from an 18-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The world they returned to was not the same one they had left nearly three weeks earlier.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Michelle Johnson\/Courtesy | Steamboat Springs resident Michelle Johnson and her boyfriend Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.\" class=\"swift-gallery-slide h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Steamboat Springs resident Michelle Johnson and her boyfriend Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.<\/strong><br \/>Michelle Johnson\/Courtesy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-2.jpg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/wireRAFTER-atd-041220-1-2.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Steamboat Springs resident Michelle Johnson and her boyfriend Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/steamboat-springs-rafters-return-to-a-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/steamboat-springs-rafters-return-to-a-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">STEAMBOAT SPRINGS \u2014 When Steamboat Springs residents Patrick Keogh and Michelle Johnson concluded an 18-day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, they emerged to discover an unfamiliar world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s always a joke on the Grand Canyon. I did a trip in November 2018. There was some conflict in the world, talking about nuclear weapons across the world,\u201d Keogh said. \u201cYou always joke, what if things are different? What if we come out, and there\u2019s a nuclear war going on? This time it was actually true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The world wasn\u2019t flattened or poisoned from nuclear warfare, but it still had a post-apocalyptic feel to it. As the couple traveled, they drove by lighted signs that said \u201cStay Safe,\u201d \u201cStay Healthy\u201d and \u201cWash Your Hands,\u201d which Keogh said reminded him of zombie movies. The scene resembled a movie, like something out of \u201c2012\u201d or \u201cThe Day After Tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Roads were empty, gas station bathrooms were closed, toilet paper shelves were bare and there were new words and phrases circulating on social media. Keogh and Johnson had to look up the terms \u201csocial distancing\u201d and \u201cflatten the curve.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Since their return to the real world on March 22, Keogh and Johnson have been bombarded with serious life changes. Only one had a job to return to, and so they now live in different states.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">For those keeping tabs on the situation surrounding coronavirus, things have been happening fast, but for Keogh and Johnson, it all happened in an instant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">\u2018You don\u2019t know what you\u2019re coming back to\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The group of 15 rafters took off on nine separate boats March 5. At the time, there were 164 cases of the coronavirus in the United States, mostly in Washington and California. When the group came out of the canyon March 22, there were 33,404 cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">During the trip, they had a few small indicators that the situation outside the canyon was getting worse. Via satellite phone and through a few travelers who had wifi hot spots, the group received text messages that some schools and universities were shutting down, but Keogh said that didn\u2019t really set off any alarms for the group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About two days before the trip ended, a group member who left early and hiked out of the canyon texted the group saying they may have a problem with their original takeout plan since the Hualapai Indian Reservation was closed to visitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Professional River Outfitters, PRO, was supposed to pick them up at Diamond Creek Beach on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. After reaching the outfitter, the group was reassured PRO still had access to the beach, and the group could proceed as planned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like they did when they heard about the schools, the rafters brushed off the reservation closure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Upon arrival, the PRO workers were wearing gloves and explained to the group that coronavirus was spreading rapidly and anyone of them could be carriers without showing symptoms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThey said, \u2018We\u2019ve been asked to not handle any of your gear, so you guys are going to have to load the truck yourself,\u2019\u201d Keogh recalled. \u201cWe kind of laughed. One guy said, \u2018Very funny, get to work.\u2019 Then they said, \u2018No seriously, we can\u2019t touch any of your stuff.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After a little more explanation from the outfitter, it finally started to hit the group just how serious things had gotten while they were gone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBasically, they said, \u2018You don\u2019t know what you\u2019re coming back to,\u2019\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">The new normal<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The group started learning about the new world right away. When they offered PRO leftover toilet paper, the workers suggested each rafter take home a roll or two since there was a shortage of toilet paper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat\u2019s always a concern, on the Grand Canyon, of running out of toilet paper. We\u2019re kind of prepared for something like that,\u201d Keogh said. \u201cThat was a really weird coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once Johnson and Keogh got cell service, they learned they had been evicted from their rental and that Johnson no longer had a job. Quickly, they changed course. Rather than drive back to Steamboat together, Johnson and Keogh went the other direction, toward California.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Only bringing what she had packed for the rafting trip, Johnson settled back into her hometown with her parents in California. She doesn\u2019t even have the comfort of staying in a familiar space, like her childhood bedroom, since her parents moved recently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cSome of the reasons I would even want to come here is to see people besides my family,\u201d she said. \u201cI get to see my family all the time now. I don\u2019t really get to see any of my friends that are here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Meanwhile, Keogh returned to Steamboat in Johnson\u2019s van and to his job as executive sous chef at Mambo. Without an apartment, he lives in the van with his dog, Taco, who spends his days with a rotating list of Keogh\u2019s friends. Keogh said it was overwhelming to return to work, trying to catch up with everyone else who had over a week to get used to the to-go-only format that Mambo has adjusted to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe chefs I work with had gotten used to it. They\u2019d been doing it a week and a half before I got there,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how much prosciutto to cut, how much pasta to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">Solitude vs. isolation<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ironically, the beauty of the Grand Canyon lies in its isolation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">There is no cell service, and for much of the day, a rafter\u2019s world is confined to two canyon walls looming on either side and an endless stretch of water in front of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt feels pretty big,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou\u2019re exploring things not everyone gets to see. Side canyons, they just go on forever it seems. There\u2019s a big space to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Johnson and Keogh met on a Grand Canyon rafting trip in November 2018. Johnson was a newbie rafter, while Keogh had years of experience, but had never been in the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The pair both said they enjoy being off grid and seeing a part of the world that few get to experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s magical down there. There\u2019s a certain order to it,\u201d Keogh said. \u201cYou get down, set up camp, you do your daily chores. You kind of become one with the canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While both take solace in the solitude and isolation of the Grand Canyon, it\u2019s a different feeling being so isolated upon returning to the real world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI was very close to the other 14 people on the trip; obviously, I spent 18 days with them in close proximity,\u201d Keogh said. \u201cWe hugged every day, saw each other every day, cooked dinner every day. Coming back and not being able to be within 6 feet of another human being is really challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:sreardon@steamboatpilot.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sreardon@steamboatpilot.com<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/steamboat-springs-rafters-return-to-a-different-world-after-3-week-raft-trip-during-outbreak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steamboat resident Patrick Keogh recently spent 18 days on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend Michelle Johnson. When they returned, the world looked very different due to the the rapid spread of COVID-19.Michelle Johnson\/Courtesy Steamboat Springs resident Patrick Keogh and his girlfriend Michelle Johnson recently returned from an 18-day rafting trip [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 04:38:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}